Soiled ground
by toeki
Summary: The opposed core beliefs of Wolfwood and Vash collide when Wolfwood kills to save Vashs life. Will their friendship break apart under the weight of this decision? mangaverse
1. Chapter 1

Blood stained the sand as another bullet hit it´s target. The man in the red coat thudded to the ground, gasping in pain.

From his cover behind the remains of an old brick wall Wolfwood watched his friend falling. The man in the black suit was swearing. What kind of ammo did that fuckin bounty hunter over there use to penetrate Vash´s nearly bulletproof coat? "Spikey! You have to get up! That bastard´s still aiming at you!" The priest stared at his friend intently, already regretting he had agreed to stay out of this fight.

The bounty hunter laughed mockingly as he pulled the trigger again. Wolfwood gritted his teeth when Vash cried in agony, clutching his leg.

The priest watched Vash, who was squatting on the floor, desperately trying to get up. His moves just made the pool of blood beneath him grow. Finally Vash´s knees gave away.

The bounty hunter took a lot of time to reload his weapon, mocking the injured man who was lying on the ground now, shivering. "So this is all you are able to do, Vash the Stampede? Dodge some bullets and completely fall apart when one hits you? Well, this is an easily earned bounty. If you don´t get up, I will finish this now."

He cocked the weapon and aimed for Vash´s head, waiting.

Wolfwood knew by now that staying out of this was the biggest failure he had ever made. Both of them had underestimated that ugly little man over there completely, and now Vash was paying the price for doing so. Blood was running down his temple, his blond hair was soaked with red. He was panting heavily, not able to move. Wolfwood saw tears of pain in green, unseeing eyes and realized that Vash would not be able to get out of this alive.

Wolfwood gritted his teeth again, making a decision. He tightened the grip around his colt and left his cover.

Two shots were ripping through the silence.


	2. Chapter 2

Tears were running down his cheeks as he looked at the dead body. Vash attended to it like he expected to still find signs of life.

"You search in vain," Wolfwood said calmly, lighting his cigarette. "I hit him fully in the head one time, and a second time through the heart, as I have been taught." In fact the corpse was barely recognizable because there was not enough left of the face to identify the man.

Wolfwood suppressed his anger when he saw Vash grieve for the man who had tortured and tried to kill him before.

"Why? Why did you kill him?" Vash eyed him, his face full of resentment.

The priest couldn´t believe it. "Because he was about to shoot you?," he shouted in the pale face of his partner.

"But there had to be another way to save me than murdering the guy," Vash answered reproachfully.

He still looked withdrawn from his injuries, though Wolfwood had removed the bullets and treated the injuries the best he could while Vash had been unconscious.

The fact that Vash was seriously injured was the only reason Wolfwood did not punch him in the face for calling him a murderer.

"You dare to judge me? You of all people on this planet? Do you think I like to do this?Do you think killing is fun for me?", he hissed instead, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"N-n-no, not exactly, but-", Vash stuttered.

„I´m doing my best to help you, to protect you, to keep you safe. I stain my hands with blood - FOR YOU - But all you do is staring at me with those mournful eyes afterwards, telling me I did wrong!" Wolfwood was yelling now, clenching his fists.

"But there are plenty of ways to save everyone without killing if you take a little time to think of it..." This was a sentence he had said so often that it sounded like Vash rehearsed and forgot the meaning, and he knew it.

The priest came closer. "Yeah, Spikey, you´re _such _an angel! Sometimes you just don´t have enough time to think of it, for example when they´re aiming at your head!

Take a look around when you´re going through this world. You have lived here for over 100 years and you still don´t get it. We live in a world that works according to the law of the gun. The ones who have better arms and don´t hesitate to use them will survive. The ones who have the bigger guns _are_ the law. So using your abilities, even killing people, is necessary to survive, and I´m doing my best to stay alive, and to keep _you _alive."

"But I managed to survive very long without killing my opponents...", Vash whispered weakly. It was hard to say it, Wolfwood´s face just inches away from his own.

"Yeah, _Saint Vash_, but you´re _not_ a normal human and normal humans are _not_ able to cope with major injuries like _you_ do. Besides, today you _would _have died if it was not for me.

With your advice to stay out of the conflict you doomed this bounty hunter to death right at the beginning. I could´ve immobilized the guy with some well-aimed bullets, but you wanted to do this on your own.

With your refusal to kill, no matter what the circumstances are, with your desperate effort to keep your own hands clean, you forced me to do the job for you. So what kind of saint are you? A slick one, blaming others for the things which would´ve been _you__r_ deed to do, Spikey.

You´re holding me back, burdening me with your way of life. How do you think that makes me feel?" Wolfwood stared into the green eyes of his friend angrily, recognizing that Vash was on the verge of tears again.

The conclusion that his peaceful way of life forced the priest to kill hit Vash harder than any fist could have. His heart ached while he gazed into dark, angry eyes.

Suddenly he wished the ground would swallow him, anything that would bring a distance between Wolfwood and himself.


	3. Chapter 3

He stood up hastily, limping three shaky steps before his vision was blurring. _Oh no, I shouldn´t have gotten up so abruptly..._ Unable to stable himself, he felt himself falling, waiting for the impact as he closed his eyes. It didn´t come.

He felt warm arms catching him instead. His body was lowered carefully. An arm was supporting his back and shoulders, an unsteady hand touching his neck, looking for a pulse. All this, accompanied by muted swearing. Vash didn´t have to open his eyes to know it was Wolfwood.

"Shit, Spikey! What the hell were you trying to do? Feeling suicidal today or what?" The oh-so- familiar voice was growling. Though the words were rough, they were not able to hide the priest´s concern.

Vash forced his eyes to open. "Go away...don´t wanna... be a burden for you...Can make it... on my own..." The words were slurred, barely audible. Though his sight was still blurring at the edges, he saw the sad smile on the priest´s face.

"Oh yeah, it is _totally obvious_ you are able to make it on your own right now." Vash didn´t get the sarcasm of this statement until he tried to move, but only managed to turn his head slightly.

"Moron", Wolfwood snapped. "You tore your wounds open again by moving so suddenly. Stop squirming right now or you´ll make it even worse."

The priest was sitting on the dusty ground, the humanoid typhoon lying in his lap. He cradled his friend in his arms, sighing. Trying to make himself more comfortable, Wolfwood carefully adjusted his position. Vash´s head was resting on his shoulder now.

"Wolfwood..." Vash´s choked voice barely hid the pain he was in.

"Hmmm?"

"I´m so sorry..."

Wolfwood furrowed his brow. "For what?"

"For being such a burden..."

"Stop talking bullshit, Spikey...you´re not a burden." The priest was frowning now, unaware that Vash couldn´t see it because his eyes were closed.

"But you said so...sooner.", his friend whispered faintly.

"I didn´t. I just said I _don´t_ want to be _accused of murder_ every time I save your red coated ass, Spikey."

"Oh.. that means.." Vash managed to open his eyes, trying to focus the priest.

"That means I don´t force you to change, to act against your believes, but stop lecturing _me_ about it.

You may be an angel, Vash the Stampede, and you can keep your hands clean, can stay innocent as long as you want. Let me help you, let me do the dirty work for you. But please stop to look at me with those mourning eyes."

"Wolfwood, I don´t want you to kill for me...", Vash coughed, spitting up blood. Wolfwood carefully wiped the red liquid away with his sleeve. He cupped his friend´s cheek with his hand, trying to comfort him.

"Don´t mind, Spikey. I am not innocent. I have killed countless people before we met. One more or less is not that important."

"Every life is important..."

"Yeah, especially _yours_. That´s why you should care a little more about your _own_ well being, Vash the Stampede."

Vash looked incredibly sad. "You know better than anyone I am not able to do so, Wolfwood..."

"What are you, Vash? A martyr sacrificing himself for the disaster called mankind? Or, regarding the form your power chooses when you use it..." -Wolfwood thought of the huge, wing-like object covered with feathers he had seen Vash use in Jeonora Rock and Dragon´s Nest Fortress.- "...are you really an angel?"

A faint smile showed on Vash´s tired face. "If I was an angel, I would be an angel with bloody hands..." He lifted his right hand a few inches. Wolfwood touched it, realizing with shock how cold it felt. He looked at the stains of dried blood and smiled back warily, very aware that he could do nothing but being here right now. "I would be happier if it was not your _own _blood, Spikey..."

"I´m pretty happy it is just my own..." His voice trailed off as Vash closed his eyes.

_Just his own ..._ The priest mentally shook his head. Aloud he said, "You have a very strange way of staying innocent, mad angel," with more resignation than anger in his voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Vash fell asleep, breathing unsteadily.

The priest was not sure if Vash was aware how bad the situation was. Hours passed, but Wolfwood didn´t dare to move, afraid to harm his friend even more. They were miles away from civilization. That meant: no hospital, no doctor, no help. This time the humanoid typhoon really _could_ die. And all Wolfwood could do was to stay with him, covering Vash´s cold hand with his own.

The night came, and Wolfwood remembered how cold desert nights were. He put a lot of effort in taking his black suit jacket off without shifting Vash too often. He covered as much of his friend´s body as possible with the black cloth.

Vash stirred slightly. "Wolfwood... it´s cold."

"So you´re awake again... How do you feel?"

"Ugh..not that good, really. But at least my vision isn´t blurring anymore."

Wolfwood felt relieved. Vash was looking at him with clear eyes now.

"Wolfwood... you are still here. Why didn´t you just leave me?"

"What do you think of me? We are friends,Spikey!"

"I´ve been left... a lot of times by people I´ve considered friends, so I didn´t expect..."

"Idiot... you don´t get it, do you?", Wolfwood whispered. "No matter where you go and what you´re doing, I will follow you."

The priest looked into the pale face, seeing the trail the tears had left in dust and dried blood. Saw new tears coming.

"Sshh...don´t cry. I won´t leave you to die here." I_ won´t le__ave you at all._

He wiped the tears away with his thumb, causing the grime on Vash´s face to smudge even more.

He ran his hands up his cheeks and through the mess of blond, spiky hair stiffened with dried blood, speaking soft, soothing words. He told Vash to sleep. And instead of ignoring it like he usually did, Vash accepted this advice. He snuggled closer to the priest, making little noises of pain while closing his eyes.

Wolfwood stared at the sky, lost in thought, not noticing the stars above.

He was still holding Vash, silently contemplating how long an innocent angel would be able to survive on a ground as soiled with guilt, blood, and hate, as the sand of no-mans-land was.


End file.
